Page:The Life of Mary Baker Eddy (Wilbur).djvu/361

Rh Association. Be of one mind in one place and God will pour you out a blessing such as you never before received. He who dwelleth in eternal light is bigger than the shadow, and will guard and guide His own. Let no consideration bend or outweigh your purpose to be in Chicago on June the 13th.

This call was not without its effect. Hundreds journeyed to Chicago to attend what was anticipated as a “week’s jubilee of spirit.” It was the first great gathering of Christian Scientists from many parts of the United States. The knowledge had gone abroad that Mrs. Eddy would herself attend the convention, and this served to draw together not only the students who had graduated from her classes, but also hundreds who had been healed by her students and who wished to know more of her philosophy. Mrs. Eddy made the journey accompanied by Captain and Mrs. Eastaman, and her secretary Calvin Frye. Dr. E. J. Foster, a young physician who had studied with her, and whom she afterwards legally adopted as her son, joined the party in Chicago.

The national association held its business meetings in the First Methodist church of Chicago, then situated on Washington and Clark streets. On the second day the convention assembled at Central Music Hall for a program of addresses to be delivered by practising students. The doors being opened to the public, much to the astonishment of the eight hundred delegates, there assembled an audience of about four thousand, among whom were many prominent Chicagoans, for the newspapers had not failed to advertise the fact that the Boston